Noodles help usher in year of the snake

Noodles are traditional fare for Chinese New Year’s. Here’s a little bit more about the year of the snake.

Jan. 24 represents the start of the year 4967 on the Chinese lunar calendar, the year of the snake.

The snake is the sixth year in the 12-year Chinese zodiac, a feminine sign viewed in a positive light by Chinese, who associate it with wealth and wisdom.

Snake years are 1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989 and 2001. In the 20th century in the United States, snake years were associated with warfare: entry into World War I, April 1917, and World War II, December 1941; signing of the Korean armistice, July 1953, and first combat units landing in Vietnam, March 1965.

The stock market crash at the beginning of the Great Depression, in October 1929, occurred in a snake year.

Snake year people are said to be contemplative and philosophical, relying on their instincts. They are endowed with good looks and wisdom and love the finer things in life. Financially secure, snake people can be demanding and unrelenting.

Famous snake year people include Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi, Mao Zedong, Queen Elizabeth I, Howard Hughes, Aristotle Onassis, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Johannes Brahms, Cole Porter, Placido Domingo, Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Dionne Warwick, Paul Anka, Fats Domino and Bob Dylan.

[back to top]